


Regrets

by DarkxPrince



Series: Tales of the Light [6]
Category: Destiny (Video Game)
Genre: Hunter OC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 07:31:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7565524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkxPrince/pseuds/DarkxPrince
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With the death of Oryx, Astra returns to the Reef to rest and recover.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Regrets

It was done. It was finally done. Oryx was dead. So then why did Astra still feel so empty? His death should have brought some form of satisfaction. She should be feeling something. Still, she felt nothing. There was nothing but a black hole where her heart should be. Nothing but a cold emptiness where all of her emotions should be.

Astra stared down at the sword, the soft glow of the jewel above the hilt the only illumination within her quarters. It seemed only fitting to forge a new sword out of the same sword that Oryx had wielded. Valeriya and Rayina had their own, Bolt-Caster and Raze-Lighter, both swords fitting for their newfound powers. Even hers, Dark-Drinker, was fitting for her Nightstalker powers, even how she was feeling. Most Warlocks said that the energy of the Void was cold and empty. They were right. Even Dark-Drinker reflected that, a hungering and cold emptiness that devoured everything around it.

She’d thought that if she had returned to the Reef - to her old quarters - that it would start to heal. Yet here she was, alone in her darkened and empty room, and she still felt just as empty as when Oryx had fallen. In all honesty, Astra already knew why she didn’t feel any better. The Vanguard (mostly Cayde) would have said, “See? Didn’t we tell you revenge wasn’t the right way?” Even so, it had been the only thing that had kept her going. Really, it had been the only thing she had left to live for. So now that her vengeance against Oryx was complete, what was left?

Like so many times before, she closed her eyes, searching for the Queen’s presence at the back of her mind. It wasn’t there. All there was now was an echo of that feeling. An echo of the warmth that Mara Sov’s presence had filled her with. It was faint, distant, and it had taken her days to find it, but it was there. It should fill her with hope, that perhaps the Queen of the Reef was still alive - stranded somewhere, but alive. Yet, no matter how far she pursued that echo, it was always tantalizingly out of reach.

The opening of the door to her quarters broke her focus, the voice of Petra Venj cutting through the silence. “I thought I would find you here.”

“What do you want, Petra?” Astra ground out, not in the mood for company.

“I’m worried about you, Queen’s Blade,” Petra spoke, her voice soft and laced with worry. “You haven’t left this room since you returned several days ago.”

While the concern was touching, the use of her title angered Astra more than it should have. In a sense, it was a reminder of everything that she had lost with the death of the Queen. And so, she lashed out, “I’m no more the Queen’s Blade than you are the Queen’s Wrath!”

Her words seemed to ring in the silence that followed. Petra stalked forward as Astra rose to her full height. The two Awoken women glared at each other, their faces only inches apart. “You weren’t the only one affected by the Queen’s loss,” Petra hissed.

Astra clenched her fists, why didn’t Petra understand.  Why didn’t anyone understand! For the first time since she first heard the news of the Queen’s death, Astra lost control of her anger. It welled up from deep down inside her. Anger at the now dead Oryx, anger at the other Guardians and the Vanguard, and, most of all, anger at herself. Raising her fist, Astra punched the other woman, screaming out her frustrations.

Petra staggered back from the force of the blow, chuckling low in her throat. “Now there’s the old Astra I knew.” Rubbing her jaw, the Awoken woman added, “Feel better?”

Astra collapsed to her knees, staring down at her hands, “I should have been there, Petra. Why didn’t she trust me?! I could have protected her!” She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to force herself from sobbing, “I failed her.”

Petra knelt next to her, placing her hand on the other woman’s shoulder, “We all failed her.” She paused, as if she wasn’t sure she wanted to continue. Finally, she added, “I received a report from the Crows. They found Prince Uldren.” Petra’s voice lowered to barely a whisper. “Our Queen is alive, we just have to hold out hope we’ll find her.”

Astra felt for that echo at the back of her mind again, that pulsing warmth like the sun that Mara Sov’s presence had always felt like. This time, though, she could have sworn she felt something different about it. Petra was right, the Queen was still alive, somewhere - she had to be. She locked gazes with Petra, a new fire burning within her own eyes, “We’ll find her, together.”

And for the first time since their Queen’s death, the Awoken women smiled.


End file.
